We’re five seasons in to Game of Thrones, which means we
understand that if someone gives a moving speech about uniting people, or to
their children, or finally gets to sleep with their son’s lover that they were
probably going to die in some horrible way, though Tywin may have had it
coming. But still, tonight’s episode, in which Stannis voluntarily burned his,
theoretically, beloved daughter Shireen was a bit of a show stopper. I have an
MFA in creative writing and have slogged my way through a narrative or two. I
don’t actually believe that a storyteller, in this case Beneioff and Weiss, owe
anything to the watcher or viewer narratively. It’s not essential that the
story goes in the direction I’d like. There are too many people to please.
But
before we talk about people sailing away on dragons, hello problematic CGI
budget, it’s worth talking about whether the narrative punch was provided by
having Stannis sacrifice his daughter. The answer is an unequivocal, I don’t
know. As a viewer and a narcissistic one at that, which is to say ,a normal
human being, I like to identify with characters and GOT is constantly
subverting that desire. Oh, Stannis loves his daughter and is stepping into a
more vital role? Guess what, he kills his daughter. Robb Stark is going to lead
everyone to victory, not with a wolf’s head sewn on he isn’t.
It’s
troubling to watch a little girl burned alive, even on a television show where
the stakes aren’t real, just as it’s troubling to watch Sir Meren taking part
in the human sex trafficking world with an under aged girl. Note that I’m not
going to spend a lot of time trying to parse that particular detail this week.
Was it narratively necessary to show that Sir Meren was kind of a douche?
Probably not, which makes the detail of his sexual proclivities largely unnecessary,
but this show is never one to want you to confuse your villains. Joffery did
take his wife on a walk to see the decapitated head of her father. At this
point that particular proclivity or design of the show was known.
If you
suspected that the show had largely spent its weight on Hardhome then you didn’t
feel wrong in watching “A Dance of Dragons.” Watching Dany mount and ride
Drogon off into the sunset was dramatic, yes, but it felt more than a few steps
behind the battle and the Night’s King. In fact, almost every season has had a
different hero, and this season’s hero has been Jon Snow, not Dany, so her
triumphal ride wasn’t quite as moving as I think it was intended to be.
The action
up North went roughly as sketched out. Sir Allister brooding over Jon’s
kindness, Olly, standing off in the distance looking down coldly at the snow
flakes just begging to get caught in a lock of Jon’s hair. And yet, it felt
like a missed opportunity, watching Jon stand in the snow channeling his inner
emo. Tired as they were, it was time for another rousing speech, time to hoist
up the main sails and get everyone working on mounting a defense against the coming
menace, hell, maybe end the episode with Jon trying to wake everyone up.
Down a
bit south, Ramsey, was once again rewarded for his daring and general tom
foolery. When he’s not waiting for Levensees he’s off burning crops and taking
sexual advantage of unsuspecting women. Who wouldn’t want to see him succeed?
Well, me for one. It turns out that we like vengeance in our stories and one of
the tricks that Thrones has pulled is leaving Walder Frey out of the show
altogether, though next week’s episode title hints that his time in the world
may not be long. The consequences of Ramsey’s action are as usual, dire.
Stannis,
his troops mired in snow and remembering his brief stint as a smoke monster is
seduced into killing his own daughter. Though, mercifully, he first sends away
his King’s Hand, the Onion Knight, who she taught to read, on a mission to
bring more men. Jon Snow is unlikely to send men away from the wall at this
point, which is another reason he should have been trumpeting what happened
from all corners sending ravens to the far reaches of the kingdom. However,
watching the touching scene with Davos and Shireen was as rewarding as it was a
warning. Ah, shit they’re going to do it. And do it they did, strapping her to
a cross and giving the viewer only the merciful moment of her mother, her
horrendous mother, finally breaking down and trying to reach her daughter.
I don’t
think it’s the worst moment in Thrones history in terms of graphic display, but
it may have been the most emotionally wrenching. It’s an old philosophical
problem, yes? Would you sacrifice a child to save the whole world? Stannis believes
that it is his destiny to rule and to rule fairly and justly. This powerful
desire, which we’ve seen from the beginning, leads him to the inevitable
conclusion that he must kill his daughter. Therefore, the scene is not entirely
without narrative merit. It does rather lower our interest in what happens at
Winterfell, who wins and who loses, and once again it leaves the watcher wondering
when they’ll have someone to root for. Even if Martin’s ur text about
subverting traditional norms the last two seasons of the show need to do some
work to build up their heroes. It turns out that a battle between the undead
ice zombies and Stannis would be a meh proposition.
In
Dorne, well, the less said about Dorne the better. This was actually one of the
better scenes set in Dorne. Does anyone want to take me to Seville? The Sand
Snakes continue to slap fight and lie around like extras in the History Channel
presents The Bible and Bronn finally made it upstairs for a punch in the face.
One of the ways in which the show has dropped the ball is in their presentation
of Dorne. Perhaps weaving it into Oberyn’s story would have given the scenes a
bit more bite. As it is, Prince Doran is only just now beginning to come into
view, a realist pacifist, who is living in a land where everyone seems to
desire war and death. A noble opinion, one agreed to by Tyrion during his brief
discussion at the games with Dany’s fiancé, now deceased.
The
rest of the action is in Mereen, where, guess what? The people don’t want to be
ruled. They don’t want democracy. I think Dany just needs to get behind some No
Child Left Behind type policies to win over these people. How come no one is
talking about education? And what’s her tax policy like? Sigh. Sadly, we may
not get even more minutia in Mereen, a fact which will sadden many more
viewers. I was hoping for some Levitical type instructions about how many
shekls it costs to repay a man for a sheep run over accidentally by your cart.
The problem,
which many book readers are aware of, is that Dany has been mired in Mereen so
long now that she doesn’t have momentum. Her mounting of Drogon, (can these
dragons be bigger? Sleeth was huge? Can the budget afford for them to be full
grown? I expected more fire and mayhem? These guys were kind of idly chucking spears
into his back. How are we going to beat the walkers with a dragon who is too
busy bonding with his lady to cook some bros like baby back ribs?) lacks the
narrative tension and release that we had at Hardhome. Though admittedly the
scene was rife with fear, and the chaos was generally well conveyed. The
problem comes with the arrival of the dragon and the Sons of the Harpy half
milling around and half chucking spears like drunken frat boys throwing beers
at a trash can.
Hizdar
is dead. Though at least he proved his innocence in death, a surprise to the
handsome Daario, who, in one of the best comedic moments was praising the
virtues of quickness over power just as the quick man lost his head. A moment,
which brings into focus the lack of anyone interesting that Dany’s had around
her in a while. A fact, which is partially remedied by Tyrion, though it
appears that she’s flown off for bluer skies just at the time that someone to
keep her company has just arrived.
I
suppose I can’t really sign off without noting that Sir Jorah extended his hand
to Dany in helping her to escape, a moment made so clear that we should have
had a red herring. We haven’t exactly determined how grey scale is passed, but I’m
not entirely certain he isn’t infecting everyone around him. A dragon siege
coupled with grey scale is maybe enough momentum to drive Dany across the
narrow sea. We can only hope.
In
short, the ninth episode of most Thrones season has been where narrative ties
come together or are completely broken apart. This particular episode didn’t
quite live up to its predecessors. However, taken together with Hardhome, it
may comprise a fantastic three episode ending to this season. I can’t wait to
watch next week to see Rikkon and Shaggy Dog.
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